1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an indicator of a caster comprising a wheel and leg member and fitted to a piece of furniture or the like, which rotary leg is provided with a stopper lever that can be rotated to lock the rotary leg member against rotating and/or the wheel against swiveling and optionally with a stopper spring interlocked with such a stopper lever, said indicator being designed to indicate the locked or unlocked state of the leg member so as to allow the user to visually recognize the current locked or unlocked state of the caster.
2. Related Background Art
Indicators for allowing the user to visually recognize the locked or unlocked sate of a caster of any of various different types have been proposed to date (see, inter alia, Japanese Utility Model Publications Nos. 8-5843 and 7-7201). However, known caster lock devices have a complex structure and typically involve the use of a gear and a gear rack and/or a locking recess formed in the wheel for locking the caster.
As improvements to such caster lock devices, there have been proposed casters equipped with a lock device that comprises a stopper lever fitted to the rotary leg member of the caster and adapted to be rotated to transmit the rotary movement of the stopper lever to a stopper spring fitted to the leg and lock the leg member against rotating and optionally also the wheel against swiveling (see, inter alia, Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-Open No. 1-132401 and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 11-321208) and getting popularity.
However, no appropriate lock indicators have been proposed to date for such casters that are equipped with a lock device.
In view of the above identified circumstances, it is therefore the first object of the present invention to provide a caster lock indicator for a caster equipped with a lock device, wherein a lock indicator plate is slidably arranged in a guide space of the stopper lever of the caster in such a way that the lock indicator plate is anchored to a stopper lever sided part of the stopper spring.
Then, as the stopper lever is rotated around a lever support member, the stopper spring will be turned about the spring support member so as to lock the leg member against any rotary motion and/or the wheel against any swiveling motion by means of the movement of a fitting section side part and that of the stopper lever side part of the stopper spring.
Thus, since the lever support member and the spring support member are separated from each other, the lock indicator surface of the lock indicator plate anchored and secured to the stopper lever side part of the stopper spring will slide in said guide space while the stopper lever is being rotated so that the user can discriminate the part of the lock indicator surface indicating an unlocked state before the sliding movement and the part of the lock indictor surface indicating a locked state after the sliding movement through the indicator window of the stopper lever and hence clearly understand the current locked or unlocked state, although the lock indicator has a simple configuration.
The second object of the present invention is that the stopper spring is arranged in such a way that it can be turned about the spring support member located in an upper part of the leg lateral plates of the leg section of the caster and that an engaging section is arranged at a lever support member side of the lock indicator plate so that the free end of the stopper lever side part of the stopper spring may be releasably engaged with the engaging member. Then, as the stopper lever side part of the stopper spring is resiliently deformed by a projecting pusher section of the stopper lever, the leg member will be locked against any rotary motion when the fitting section side part of the stopper spring is anchored to the fitting section and/or the wheel is locked against any swiveling motion when the stopper lever side part of the stopper spring is pushed against the wheel. Then, the lock indicator plate will slide more reliably so that the user can visually recognize and discriminate the part of the lock indicator surface that indicates the locked state and the part of the lock indicator surface that indicates the unlocked state.
The third object of the present invention is that the fitting section side part of the stopper spring is held to the holding section formed on the support of the caster more reliably by causing a biasing spring arranged at the fitting section side part of the stopper sprint to elastically abut the leg back plate section of the leg member in order to improve the locked state of the rotary leg member.
A guide may be arranged in the guide space of the stopper lever so that the indicator plate section of the lock indicator plate may be slidably inserted between the top surface of the guide and the top wall surface of the guide space and that the lock indicator may be more reliable and free from failure.
The profile projecting pusher section of the stopper lever may be specifically defined in such a way that the stopper lever side part of the stopper spring may be smoothly and resiliently deformed when the stopper lever is pushed down to rotate. The stopper lever side part of the stopper spring may be made to include a flat panel-shaped base section, a bent link section, a linked bottom section and an upwardly bent front end section, while the lock indicator plate may be made to include an indicator plate section having a part for indicating the unlocked state and a part for indicating the locked state and a bifurcated section so that the projecting pusher section may abut the bent link section and the linked bottom section and the upwardly bent front end section may be engaged with the engaging section formed in bifurcated section of the lock indicator plate.
Additionally, if it is so arranged that the projecting pusher section elastically abuts the flat panel-shaped base section and the upwardly bent front end section retractably enter the escape hole formed in the anchor plate section, the lock indicator plate will smoothly move from the position indicating the unlocked state to the position indicating the locked state.